Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police Wednesday said it will set up 11 new CRPF/BSF camps in remote areas of the state to take on the Maoists. This was revealed by Director General of police (DGP) Sunil Kumar Bansal after inaugurating the strategy conference on Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) here. “We have plans to set up 11 new COBs (Company Operation Bases) of CRPF/BSF in remote areas as Maoists may unleash violence to make their presence felt,” Bansal said.
The DGP said the meeting also deliberated on police modernisation, infrastructure, building, logistics and other issues related to countering Maoists. He said the setting up of the new camps will make the battle against the Maoists more effective. Bansal said police focus will be to deal with the challenge from Kandhamal-KalahandiBoudh-Nayagarh (KKBN) and Nayanpuri divisions of the outlawed CPI (Maoist). “We hope the combined efforts by all the stakeholders will have a decisive advantage in the fight against the Maoists,” the DGP said. Bansal said there is also a challenge from the Chhattisgarh border which is difficult for its topography. “We have a cordial relationship with Chhattisgarh Police and it will be beneficial for anti-Maoist operations,” he said. Director (Intelligence) Sanjeeb Panda said the conference aimed to revisit the strategy and response to combat the problem effectively. He emphasised that security forces must have a proactive approach against the Maoists in south-central Odisha, particularly in the districts of Kandhamal and Boudh. Panda appreciated the SPs of Koraput and Malkangiri for showing great leadership in containing the Maoist problem.
Apart from Bansal and Panda, ADG (Operations) S Dev Datta Singh, Intelligence DIG Anup Kumar Sahoo, Special Intelligence Wing (SIW) DIG Umashankar Dash, SPs of 10 Maoists-affected districts and other senior officials also attended the meeting.
